Chapter 1 Excerpt:
Chapter 1 God's Call to Bold Action
"The wicked man flees though no one pursues,
but the righteous are as bold as a lion" (Prov 28:1).

Business as usual just won't cut it anymore. The church has been a bedrock foundation of Western society for hundreds of years, but today the church is standing on the edge of irrelevance. We need a fresh, bold, articulate vision for ministry. Incremental change and small refinements in current ministry practices are of only limited value in making the church a dynamic force for good.

In his insightful book, Dancing with the Dinosaurs, William Easum wrote, "If churches only improve what they have been doing, they will die. Bureaucracies and traditional practices are the major cause of the decline of most denominations in North America."** (William Easum, Dancing with Dinosaurs, p. 13-14, www.easumbandy.com) George Barna goes one step further when he says, "Let's cut to the chase. After nearly two decades of studying Christian churches in America, I'm convinced that the typical church as we know it today has a rapidly expiring shelf life."** (George Barna, The Second Coming of the Church, Word Publishing, Nashville, Tennessee, 2001, p. 1)

Throughout church history, God has used a few people to galvanize the church's vision at crucial times and call men and women to originate bold new strategies to that made a difference. The Apostle Paul's missionary journeys established churches throughout the Roman world. He boldly proclaimed the gospel of Christ to Romans and barbarians. Nothing could stop him. He was a revolutionary when he was free and when he was in prison, when he was popular and when he was despised. His passion for Christ and for the cause of Christ energized his generation and provided his example of zeal and strategy for the cause of Christ all of us since that day continues to influence leaders today. In a summary of his passion for taking the gospel to every person in the world, he wrote the Corinthians:

"Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became a Jew, to win the Jews... To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings" (I Cor 9:19-23).

Paul didn't feel bound to do the same things in the same ways they had been done before. The church was brand new, and his strategy was directed by God to meet the complex needs of establishing the church. Paul is not alone in his pioneer spirit. In the great century of missions, people like William Carey, Adoniram Judson, and Hudson Taylor charted new courses to win the world for Christ. John Mott and the Student Volunteer Movement responded to the world's needs and reached millions of people who had never heard the name of Jesus.

In recent years, churches like Willow Creek Community Church and Saddleback Community Church have broken the mold of church strategy. They began with only God's clear call, and they have become examples of vision and activism that directly and indirectly touch millions of lives. All of these pioneers remind me of the proverb: "The wicked man flees though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion" (Prov 28:1).

The questions are seeing the success of other's bold strategies, we are left with the questions: we content to remain comfortable doing ministry the way we have always done it, with some positive but limited results, knowing in our hearts that we aren't making much of a dent in our culture? Or will we take the risk of boldly trusting God for a fresh vision, powerful strategies, and incredible results? I'm believing that a fresh Spirit-led burst of entrepreneurial activity will lead the church to greater cultural impact than ever before.